Anger remains as Canada Post workers prepare to head back to work

Thousands of Canadian postal workers are going back to their jobs this week and while they expect smooth delivery of mail to resume in the hot summer months, the union says the emotional climate at postal facilities across Canada will be anything but warm.

Nearly 50,000 workers are expected back on the job Monday night after back-to-work legislation, which passed without changes in the House of Commons Saturday after nearly 48 hours of debate, received royal assent in the Senate Sunday night.

George Floresco, a national vice-president of the Canadian Union of Postal Workers, said the level of animosity felt by most workers being forced back to work is likely to linger for a long time.

“Our members are going back . . . and they’re angry, they’re quite upset and that resentment is going to the workplace,” Floresco said Monday. “They’re angry at Canada Post and they’re angry at the Harper government. The mail will get processed — we’re not angry at the customers, that’s for sure — but it’s only going to carry on and there won’t be any labour peace in the post office for years to come as a result of this.”

Despite the feelings of dissatisfaction, Floresco said all workers are expected back at work and said it’s unlikely there will be pockets of revolt against the legislation, which would come with harsh penalties.

“People, in some cases, will be staying on the picket line until the last minute,” he said. “That’s fine, but we don’t expect anyone to be defying the legislation.”

Canada Post spokeswoman Anick Losier said the Crown corporation isn’t wearing rose-coloured glasses and is aware there will be some tension as workers returns to their positions.

She said Canada Post is hopeful the unionized workers can continue working hard to fight a possibly uphill fight to remain current in an increasingly electronic age.

“We have lived through a very difficult time at Canada Post the last few weeks and months,” Losier said. “It’s not going to be easy (at first) and I think to suggest everything is going to be hunky dory would not be appropriate.

“Our employees are hard workers, they love what they do and they love to serve their customers and I think if we can all do it in a way to go toward our end goal, we’ll be able to turn the page and start thinking about the future of this company . . . and how to keep ourselves relevant in a digital era.”

Losier said Canadians can expect to see some mail begin to trickle into their mailboxes by Tuesday morning, but it will be “some time” before mail service is fully restored.

“It’s going to take some time for us to stabilize our system, Losier said. “As you can imagine, we have some backlogs.”

She said Canada Post realizes it will take time to heal the wounds caused by the labour disruption, but said efforts to remain transparent and encourage communication between managers and staff will be made to ease the transition as quickly as possible.

Bill C-6 passed in the House of Commons Saturday night and postal workers were expected back on the job 24 hours after the bill became law.

The union said workers would cease walking the picket lines by 8:30 p.m. ET on Monday.

Canada Post locked out its employees on June 14, after CUPW staged 12 days of rotating strikes, which affected many major centres, including Toronto, Montreal, Calgary,Edmonton and Winnipeg.

Less than one week after the lockout began, Labour Minister Lisa Raitt introduced the back-to-work legislation.

The federal government now has to appoint an arbitrator to move the process forward by deciding on a binding contract for the unionized workers.

Until then, workers resume their duties under the conditions included in their now-expired contract.

Floresco said he expects to see more of the same in terms of labour relations from Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s majority government, but said CUPW will help other unions if they get involved in similar disputes.

“This legislation is probably the first step the Harper government is going to be taking in attacking unions and workers, and we’ll probably see a lot more of this coming down the road,” Floresco said. “We’re going to be working with our allies and other unions to mount support for whoever is taking on the government . . . and working together.”

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